Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 'Premium Rush' Star, and Director David Koepp Discuss This 'F-cking Nightmare' Of A Shoot

At the end of "The Dark Knight Rises," (spoiler alert ahead) Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character has been given the keys to Batman's armory, which, as a result, has spurred rumors of a possible spinoff movie -- rumors that Gordon-Levitt has done a good job dancing around.

But if the story did continue, what would his vigilante superhero be named? It might prove difficult to just assume Batman's identity. And using his character's real first name doesn't seem reasonable. I asked Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who didn't have an answer ready. But, thankfully, David Koepp -- the man who wrote "Jurassic Park" and "Spider-Man" -- was in the room and did have an idea. Sadly, we will probably never see the words, "Joseph Gordon-Levitt is ... Shitkicker."

Gordon-Levitt and Koepp are promoting "Premium Rush," a film in which they, respectively, star and direct. In the film, Gordon-Levitt plays Wilee, a daredevil bike messenger with the ability to see the fate of each path taken when encountered with a dangerous intersection. He's also saddled with a very valuable package. Michael Shannon plays Detective Robert Monday, a New York City cop who has some unfortunate gambling habits and really wants that package. Here, Gordon-Levitt and Koepp talk about the often dangerous shoot (which Koepp refers to as a "fucking nightmare") and why pedestrians like me are the scum of the street.

This actually just happened: On the way here I was almost ran over by a bike on Park Ave.

Gordon-Levitt: I bet it was your fault.

See, you're biased, now.

Gordon-Levitt: I bet you weren't looking where you were going.

Koepp: But you weren't run over by a bike. They have it under control -- just don't pay attention to them. Do you know what I mean? Bikes work when they don't stop. I would say in the hierarchy of who has it under control on the streets, number one is bikes. Number two is cars -- because there's an illusion of safety and they're usually texting, they're not so good. And the worst, like the scum of the street, is pedestrians.

Gordon-Levitt: That's why I assumed it was your fault.

Though, bike riders can be an ornery cuss.

Gordon-Levitt: [Laughs] Is that "Fantastic Mr Fox" phrasing?

It might be. It might be from the first "Vacation," too.

Gordon-Levitt: What I learned riding around the city -- both while shooting and especially when not shooting -- you do have to raise your voice and it can come off gruff. But, you're just trying to make sure they don't get hit and they know you're there. So, I think people take it personally sometimes. It's like, "Hey! Hey! Hey!," but they're not looking where they are going.

It's impossible while watching a movie to know if it was a fun movie to be a part of, but this one does look like it was fun to shoot.

Gordon-Levitt: It was hard work, but I had a lot of fun. I think it was more fun for me than David. You had to really worry more than I did.

Koepp: I'll answer honestly: It was a fucking nightmare. I'm really glad it looks fun, because that's what it's supposed to look like: Fast, breezy, and a ball. But trying to control New York City is impossible. Greater men and women have tried and failed. It's a great big organism that does what it wants and you just have to roll with it. It's like working with the most difficult actor in the world -- in that it's torture every day.

Gordon-Levitt: An eight million headed actor.

Koepp: Yeah! But then you get in the editing room and it's like, "Oh, no wonder: He's genius." That's what you say about New York: It looks great and is great. And then there was the concern about people getting hurt. I'm not one of those directors who, you know, doesn't seem to care. Like Michael Curtiz, apparently, was kind of an asshole.

Gordon-Levitt: Who's that?

Koepp: He directed "Casablanca," most famously. But, he did the flood -- the Noah's Ark story -- and nine people drowned. [Editor's note: It's been reported that three died and numerous others were injured.]

Gordon-Levitt: Goddamn.

Koepp: Which I'm sure kept him up nights. But, some directors just say, "Well, it's a movie and it's going to happen." I worry a lot. When a crash would happen -- and we had a number of them because bikes fall over -- the worst part would be: You're in the van, because I had to chase or lead in a van watching, and the actor would leave camera. When the actor leaves camera, you know, "Oh, fuck, something horrible is about to happen." And, then, because they're wearing body mics, you'd hear the crash. It sounds like what it would sound like if someone dies. That little scream or a muffled...

Gordon-Levitt: "Gleeepk!"

Koepp: Yeah. So the ten seconds between when you see him leave frame and when you hear him crash and you hear either, "I'm all right," or "I'mnotallright," would be the worst. Because I thought, Somebody's dead this time.

At times I felt bad for Michael Shannon's character. He had some debts and if it weren't for a pesky bike messenger, he'd be home free.

Gordon-Levitt: He's the coyote.

Koepp: You feel for the coyote, too. He just has to eat [laughs].

Michael Shannon has a rage on screen I'm not sure any other actor possesses.

Gordon-Levitt: I think he's one of the finest actors alive and he's so much fun to watch in this movie. He's a real classic Hollywood heavy. And there's a tradition, I think, of movies like this having villains who are really, really fine actors. Like Alan Rickman in "Die Hard" or Dennis Hopper in "Speed." And I think his performance in this will go down in that tradition.

After the screening, we were calling the way Wilee can see the outcome of his path before he choose it "Biker vision." What did you guys call it?

Koepp: Very close! It was "Bike-o-vision." And we spent a couple hours on our screenwriting program trying to figure out how to put in the little trademark symbol -- the shit you do to avoid work. Bike-o-vision was we wanted to find a cinematic way to show the thought process. You know, the split second that you go through in an intersection figuring out what's coming from where. The we figured, well, because this is the one part in the movie where we are going to be into some CG -- because everything else is real people on real bikes doing stunts -- we thought we could stretch it and go a little further and see increasingly horrible outcomes. Obviously when he gets hit by three different cars and run over by a truck, that's not a real person on that one. But it was great to find a visual way to show what's going on in somebody's head.

You described this as a "fucking nightmare" to shoot, but the release was also delayed. Was that frustrating?

Koepp: It was supposed to come out in January, which is a date I was never crazy about because it's the dead of winter and the movie exudes summer. And it makes you want to go get on your bike and feel the heat and not be in a blizzard.

Gordon-Levitt: In L.A., January is a perfectly nice time to go on a bike ride.

Koepp: It's interesting, when we first had a first cut of the movie, we tested it in upstate New York in a snow storm. And two weeks later in L.A. Same movie, like 15 points higher.

Gordon-Levitt: Wow! That's interesting.

Koepp: Because you're not feeling it in the winter.

Well, Joe, what about for you? It seems like you're on a never ending press tour right now. Between "The Dark Knight Rises," this, then next is "Looper."

Gordon-Levitt: It's just a bizarre coincidence. You know, I don't have any part in choosing when the movies come out. But, it is funny. Two years of work are all coming out in a few months.

Well, it's nice having you around. You're just a constant part of our lives, now.

Gordon-Levitt: [Laughs] I'll leave you alone soon. I promise!

Next for you, David, is the next Jack Ryan movie?

Koepp: That's already done, yeah. I hope it's done [knocks on the table]. It starts shooting on the 31st, here in New York, actually.

Is it easier to reboot Jack Ryan now because people are used to reboots? Did "The Sum of All Fears" not do as well because people didn't understand it was a new story?

Koepp: I guess so. I think so. That character, three different actors have played it and it's soon to be four. He's a great character. Tom Clancy created him and he's really coherent and feels things deeply in a way that people seem to connect to. So, it's not surprising they want to try that.

It's weird, but I sometimes have to be reminded that you were on "3rd Rock From the Sun." And I've seen many episodes. But, is it difficult to not be always associated with something an actor was on for so long?

Koepp: You changed your hair.

Gordon-Levitt: Um, yeah! There's that. And I was, you know, an adolescent when I was playing that and now I'm 31. I don't think that people don't associate me. A lot of people still tell me how much they loved that show. And I love it, too. So, I'm always happy to hear about it. I don't know -- not to disagree with you. But, it's also been 15 years.

It probably has something to do with you being good.

Gordon-Levitt: [Laughs] It's just because I'm so damn good.

Koepp: That doesn't hold you back.

When you were promoting "The Dark Knight Rises," was it hard to keep to yourself who John Blake becomes at the end?

Gordon-Levitt: No. I like not telling. It's the same as if I've seen a movie that I have nothing to do with and I've just really enjoyed it and I recommend it to people, I don't tell them anything about it. I always just say, "Please believe me. If you like movies, I like movies, you're going to like this movie. That's all I'm going to tell you." Because, for me, when I watch a movie, I want to experience the story they way the filmmaker intended. Or if there's a movie I'm looking forward to seeing, I try not to read any articles about it. I'll even often times not watch the trailers -- just because I really want to get all of the elements in the order that the movie is.

What name would he uses as his vigilante name? He can't use his real first name that we learn at the end because that's his real first name. People would probably figure that one out.

Gordon-Levitt: What name do you think he would use?

I don't know. I'm perplexed. You haven't thought about it?

Gordon-Levitt: [Smiles] I don't have an answer.

Are you being coy or do you really not have an answer?

Gordon-Levitt: I don't have an answer.

Koepp: How about "Shitkicker"? I don't believe I've ever seen a crime fighting guy named Shitkicker.

Gordon-Levitt: That sounds like a sequel to "Kick-Ass."

And you've written all of these successful movies, so next will be "Shitkicker."

Koepp; [Laughs] Yeah, that will be right up there with all of the rest of them.

After Jack Ryan, it's "Shitkicker."

Koepp: Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Mike Ryan is senior entertainment writer for The Huffington Post. You can contact him directly on Twitter.

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'Premium Rush' Trailers & Clips

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Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies, open doors, and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day's work for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best of New York's agile and aggressive bicycle messengers. It takes a special breed to ride the fixie -- super lightweight, single-gear bikes with no brakes and riders who are equal part skilled cyclists and suicidal nutcases who risk becoming a smear on the pavement every time they head into traffic. But a guy who's used to putting his life on the line is about to get more than even he is used to when a routine delivery turns into a life or death chase through the streets of Manhattan. When Wilee picks up his last envelope of the day on a premium rush run, he discovers this package is different. This time, someone is actually trying to kill him.

www.hollywood.com 'Premium Rush' Trailer 2 HD Director David Koepp Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon and Aaron Tveit In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city.

JGL talked about the details of the accident on jimmy kimmel www.youtube.com The original video is here: hitrecordjoe.tumblr.com Joe aka @hitRECordJoe's tweet, July 31: Wanna see a lot of my blood? 31 stitches today. #PremiumRush is gonna be awesome :oD (caution gore) tumblr.com He wrote this on his tumblr page: My first real wreck today. Busted through the rear window of a cab. Luckily got my elbows up. Coulda been way worse. No, but it was my fault, I was going too fast. The director, Dave Koepp, was extremely concerned for my well-being, but I made him RECord the wound. Anyway, Premium Rush is gonna be awesome. Gratuitous ER footage to follow, stay tuned...

bit.ly - Premium Rush Trailer! bit.ly - Click to Subscribe! Facebook.com - Become a Fan! Twitter.com - Follow Us! Premium Rush hits theaters on August 24th, 2012. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jamie Chung, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, Aasif Mandvi, Aaron Tveit, Heather Lindell A New York bike messenger is given an envelope by a young woman at an uptown Manhattan college and is told he has 90 minutes to deliver it to an address in Chinatown. Complications ensue when an undercover police office appears and demands the envelope on special grounds. The truth, hidden motivations, and the life-and-death stakes on all sides are revealed through a series of flashbacks as the cop and the messenger engage in a length-of-Manhattan chase, racing against time after the messenger discovers the precious nature of the envelope's slender contents. This movie also stars Jamie Chung (Grown Ups, Hangover II), Dania Ramirez (Entourage, Heroes), Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire). Premium Rush trailer courtesy Columbia Pictures.

The official behind the scenes featurette for "Premium Rush". Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon and Jamie Chung. In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city. For the full story read Deadline.com www.deadline.com